New Flock, New Problems

[Folly's place]

Buy an all-flock feed with 18% to 20% protein and wean them into that. And look at the mill date on each bag before buying it! I like to use feed within two months of the mill date, not older.
And treats are goodies meant to be given in very small amounts. Think 'candy'.
Mary

 

[NatJ]

And treats are goodies meant to be given in very small amounts. Think 'candy'.

It's sort of a balancing act.

If they fill up on something with a lot of calories (like corn), then they may not get enough protein--and might eat feathers to try to get more protein.

But if they get bored, they might eat feathers out of boredom.

Personally, I would offer them as much plantain and other safe plants as you can. I would also give them things to scratch through--a pile of compost or dead leaves or hay or something of the sort.

Green growing plants do not have many total calories, so the chickens will probably eat enough chicken food anyway. And pecking at the green plants will help avoid boredom. (Many "weeds" have a pretty high percent protein among the few calories they do have. Probably not enough to make much difference, though.)

Scratching and digging around can keep the chickens busy for quite a long time. And if they dig up a few bugs or worms as they scratch, that's a bit more protein too (again, not enough to make a big difference.)

I would not serve any treats in a dish, and I would not sprinkle any treats on bare ground. Either way lets the chickens eat the treats quickly, so they are soon bored again. This applies to any treats that are in small pieces, like corn or scratch grains or mealworms. A small amount of scratch grains mixed into the bedding can sometimes cause the chickens to spend a lot of time digging for it, which does keep them busy. And things like cabbage and plantain and other leafy things are big enough the chickens have to spend time ripping them up anyway, so that keeps them busy no matter how you serve it.

 

[aart]

I'm feeding them what the person that I got them from was feeding them. The grain is a grower grain and a homemade treat that that person gave me to give to them that has a lot of stuff in that.

Yeah, well, then.... you need to get them some good feed where you know the ingredients and protein percentage.

Buy an all-flock feed with 18% to 20% protein

Like this^^^